OTP Bank Romania granted Euro 1.83M to Rara Invest through its SME Invest program

Business, Finances

OTP Bank granted one of the largest financing guaranteed through the SME Invest Program, amounting to €1.83M (RON 8.9M) to Rara Invest SRL, to support the development investments of the logistics operator.

The financing is already used by the company to expand its storage spaces operated in Șura Mică industrial park in Sibiu. The new logistics center, under construction, will be added to the existing one and will consist of four storage units, with a combined area of 15,000 square meters, a capacity of 20,000 pallets and 23 ramps for loading and unloading trucks. It will offer its customers loading, unloading, labelling, as well as groupage or full truck transportation anywhere in the world through its fleet or that of its partners.

Rareș Sârbu, the founder of the RARA group (RARA Invest, RARA Construct, RARA Consult and RARA Trip)

“It is an extraordinary situation and we are glad that we can continue the planned investments, in the current context. The biggest problem in such a crisis is doing nothing. For us, the launch of the SME Invest program was welcome, the procedures were relatively simple, and OTP Bank was the partner that supported us throughout this process, both in the office and on-site, because for us, beyond procedures and documents, it was important for the partner to understand the destination of the investment”

The company, active in the field of storage and distribution, currently operates three warehouses located in the Șura Mică parks and the West industrial area in Sibiu, with a total storage area of 8,850 sqm and a capacity of 10,000 pallets. Rara Logistic also has its own fleet of 5 trucks.

Dragoș Mirică, Deputy General Manager, Corporations Division, OTP Bank.

“It is high-value financing, which demonstrates the functionality of the SME Invest program and provides an example of development for companies of this size. We first sought to see the operations of Rara Logistic, on the spot, the business model and the destination of the financing. We see a solid project, in an industry in which the demand is growing and which will increase the regional capacity of our partner “

OTP Bank carried out an intensive lending campaign dedicated to small and medium-sized companies through the SME Invest Romania program. The bank quickly exhausted the first allocation from the National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises and then obtained two successive increases in the guarantee ceiling, currently managing a ceiling of approximately 1.2 billion lei.

OTP Bank Romania, a subsidiary of OTP Group, is an integrated and self-financed provider of financial services. With an approach defined by responsibility, commitment and professionalism, OTP Bank Romania understands the needs of clients and the current context of the market and is a trusted partner in the provision of financial services. The bank ranks 9th in terms of assets in the ranking of banking players in Romania, as of December 2018.

OTP Group has more than 70 years of activity in the financial sector in Central and Eastern Europe, while the Romanian subsidiary has marked 16 years of presence in the local market. Promoting innovation, stable growth and integrated financial services, OTP Group has become a dominant player in the Central and Eastern European market and is considered an important banking group even on a European scale. The community of about 36 thousand employees serves nearly 19 million customers daily in 12 countries.